Instinct
by Sphere Dragon
Summary: Man, why does Dante never listen to what Lady says? This time she was right; Patty is going on a date with a boy, and Dante's brother instincts awaken.


**Author's Note**: Yo, peeps.

This Fanfic was inspired by an event that occurred in my boring life a little while ago. I'll give you the back story:

I had just finished my last class when my brother's friends told me that my brother and a _girl_ had cut class. To be more accurate, he cut three of his classes. I was, as I am his older sister, furious and went home. And who did I find? Yes: my brother and his little chick friend. _Alone_ in his room. You guys can probably figure out what I thought of when I discovered that.

Yeah, I'll admit it. I poked around a little; I asked one of my friends - who is popular and knows pretty much everyone in our school - about this girl and wondered if she had a reputation of being a bad girl. Fortunately for _her_, she was a nice person.

My dad and mom scolded my brother for cutting class, and I don't think that he has ever done it again.

**Disclaimer**: I do NOT own Devil May Cry.

* * *

><p>Dante's stomach fell with supersonic speed towards the centre of the earth and he shuddered violently as it hit the cold bottom. His jaw decided to mimic the motion, leaving him slack jawed and shocked. The hair on his arms were raised, almost like the fur on a cat when its feeling threatened.<p>

And, in a way, he _was_ threatened.

_Oh shit._

He had to get away before they could spot him!

A rapid dash towards the wall began, his feet pounding furiously against the cobblestones. His leather coat billowed after him as he dove into a crowd with stressed businessmen, taking refuge there. Hunching his back to become shorter, he continued forward. He couldn't help but send quick glances at the couple, especially the little girl with blonde hair.

When he finally reached his safe haven he glued himself to the wall and peeked over the corner carefully. He quickly retracted his head as the girl looked his way.

_Damn. I should've listened to Lady. Who knew that her grandma speeches actually were _that_ accurate?_

Lady had been going on and on and on about Patty and her new _boyfriend_, talking about how happy she was and how cute the couple looked together and that they'd have their first date soon. It was the kind of stuff that Lady should've know that didn't interest Dante much, because when she started to mention words as _relationship_ and _love_ he disconnected his ears. Besides, wasn't she a _little_ too young for dating?

He received a burning slap on the face by his mind.

_Yeah, I forgot; Patty turned fourteen last month. Man, time flies by._

Nostalgia crept up at the corners of his mind, reminding him when the little girl - he corrected himself: _lady_ - rearranged his office and turned it into a horrible, girly place. And then she ate his beloved strawberry sundae.

He still hadn't forgiven her for that.

Realization struck him; where those two really dating or were they only outing? There was a possibility that they were spending friendly and innocent time together. Like friends.

Yet…

He wasn't sure. After all, he had horrible luck with women. Maybe some of it had rubbed off on Patty, but the other way around?

This needed confirmation.

A small peek would satisfy his thirst for knowledge.

* * *

><p>Patty regarded the boy by her side; his messy brown hair covered his eyes, that were of the same colour, as he examined his worn shoes. Blue bruises marked his knees, matching the colour of his shorts. The green and yellow T-shirt he wore looked fantastic on him, but then again: he could wear filthy rags and still look like a king.<p>

A happy sigh escaped her as a frisk breeze grabbed her hair, the long strands flying.

She looked at the people around her. Many of these were couples, as they were holding hands, kissing and hugging constantly. The air around them seemed to vibrate, as if their mere love moved the atoms around. All of them had happy expressions on their faces, and they were obviously in their own worlds as they looked into their partner's eyes.

Patty felt a hard tug at her heart.

_I want to be that happy too._

Her focus was once again on the boy, trying to find the same pure happiness within him. The boy pouted with his lips and narrowed his eyebrows, so something was obviously bothering him.

She asked him if something was wrong.

* * *

><p>Something was happening!<p>

Dante grinded his teeth as the couple stood up and started to walk away, heading towards an unknown destination. It would be kind of creepy if he stalked them during the whole date. Only perverted old men that touched themselves at night did that stuff, right?

Patty deserved to have a private life. She was growing up to be a beautiful young lady that every guy would fight over to be with. Why would anyone want to hurt a small and innocent creature like her?

Besides, Lady would probably shoot him numb if he interfered with the date.

_Fuck._

Dante's fingers dug deeply into the wall, the bricks disintegrating under the hard pressure.

He watched as Patty fixed her gaze on the boy's hand, only a few inches away from her own. Her fingers twitched, yearning. Slowly, as if to avoid scaring him, she tried to slide her hand into his own. The boy, however, snatched his hand away with a sharp movement and kept going. Patty's face darkened.

_Patty…_

If he could, he would've hugged the midget until she passed out.

He didn't want to see Patty hurt. He didn't know the guy, but if he even _looked_ at her in a way that bothered her…

* * *

><p>Patty followed the boy in complete silence, falling a couple of steps behind him.<p>

_Why did he pull away?_

Why did he ask her out if he didn't like her? They had only known each other for a month, because none of them had had the guts to talk to the other one before. Sure, they'd send secret looks at each other at times, but that was all. Patty hadn't been too sure that the boy liked her the way she did about him, but Lady had encouraged her to make friends with the boy and see if he really did. A lady didn't always have to be discreet and quiet, Lady had told her.

But now he seemed like another person, distant and cold.

_He doesn't like me anymore._

Her shoulders lost their once confident stance.

The boy kept moving forward through the street, his gaze searching after a suitable place to dine. He had complained that he hadn't eaten before the they left the orphanage, so they had decided to search the area for a restaurant. So far, none had been too promising.

* * *

><p><em>The time is two-thirty eight PM and the suspects are hiding in an ice cream bar.<em>

Dante settled down three booths away from Patty and the boy, pushing himself into the cramped space.

"Geez, couldn't they have made the booths a little larger for us beefy guys?" he complained to himself, picking up the menu. He figured that if he wanted to stay incognito, he'd have to fit in. And if Patty _did_ find him there, he could counter that he was in his natural habitat.

It was the perfect plan.

His eyes flitted through the menu, briefly stopping to admire the different types of ice creams.

He caught his breath.

There it was, concealing itself between a banana split and a raspberry sorbet: the most beautiful strawberry sundae he had _ever_ seen.

Should he order one?

Or should he focus on Patty?

* * *

><p>Patty sent a side glace at the boy; he was quietly looking through the menu, eyes mesmerized by the giant selection of icy treats.<p>

There was something that she needed to do.

She put the menu down.

"I have to go to the washroom," she explained curtly as she got up. "Girl stuff."

The boy obviously didn't need more of an explanation.

After a while, the boy got up too.

* * *

><p><em>Clink<em>.

If Patty hadn't been sprinting when she stormed by Dante's booth, he might never have noticed. Suddenly, his strawberry sundae didn't interest him as much.

He looked at Patty's booth and saw a shiny object under the table. When he inspected it closer, the blue jewel from Patty's amulet appeared. Patty was never this careless, wasn't she? She should've noticed when the pendant fell down.

Anyway, that amulet was too valuable to lose.

He went over to pick it up.

* * *

><p>As Patty returned to the booth after a well-earned pause she spotted a bowl of strawberry sundae. The red liquid sauce that floated on top was beginning to mix with the melting vanilla. No owner seemed present.<p>

_Too bad that Dante isn't around to eat it._

She slapped her forehead when she realized that he'd never eat the remainders of a stranger.

As she got to their table, she discovered that the boy wasn't there.

_I hope he hasn't dumped me._

She observed her surroundings nervously and sat down. Her feet drummed against the floor quickly.

_Where is he?_

* * *

><p>Dante discovered that being under a low table, unable to move, was <em>way<em> worse than being impaled by his own sword. The upper half of his torso was parallel with the table while his lower body was mashed against the pole. It was not a comfortable position. He had to sit _very_ still or Patty would notice him.

His nose started to itch.

_Oh shit._

Why did he always have to sneeze at the inappropriate time? If he sneezed right now, a fucking cataclysm would be unleashed! He had to hold it in.

A couple of footsteps closed in. That boy was back; he heard Patty respire loudly as he sat down by her side. After a minute, they started to chat. The boy was straining to keep the conversation fluid, so Patty took over almost completely.

_Good for her. _

And then he realized that once Patty had begun to speak nothing in the world could shut her up.

_I'm screwed._

An ambush attack took him by surprise.

* * *

><p>People started to scream as parts of the walls were beginning to fall apart. Many panicked as the roof started to slant downwards.<p>

The owner, shocked and confused, evacuated the completely destroyed ice cream bar.

The flashy neon lights assumed the role as illumination sources when the sun dipped into the horizon, leaving the sky ebony black and purple. With the streets deserted and a couple of shady cars driving though, it was obvious that was no place for two teenagers. _Especially_ if they had squeaky voices and big doe eyes. Those are the favourite traits that many thugs search after as they rob their victims.

And Patty had them both.

Dante surveyed the area, scanning after potential threats and perverts, from a high altitude; a nice rooftop served as a lookout.

He noted that Patty had disappeared, and panic overcame him.

He also noted that a mysterious figure was walking on the opposite, or rather stumbling because of the giant humpback it had. It was wielding something that glimmered in the neon light.

_A weapon?_

What was worse, a pair of glowing red eyes peeped out under its hood.

_Demon._

Dante's demon hunter instincts kicked in immediately.

With a mighty leap he soared through the air and landed on the opposite roof, prepared to take the bastard out.

* * *

><p>A boisterous <em>boom<em> startled Patty, making her do an involuntary skip. Her heart skipped a beat, taken by surprise. She spun around swiftly, trying to find the source.

"What was that?" she wondered out loud, her eyes scouring through the empty streets. There was a dark alley on the opposite pedestrian street where violent noises - lots of _booms_, _thunks_ and _crashes -_ seemed to originate from. She didn't want to know what was going on there.

"We should hurry up," the boy said. "The cinema is this way."

Patty looked at him, his eyes serious, and then down.

_How did this happen?_

Apparently, her hand had automatically grasped the wrist of the boy when she got frightened. He hadn't pulled away yet, even though her fingers were grasping it pretty hard.

Her heart skipped another beat.

The boy moved forward and motioned to follow him with a short nod.

* * *

><p><em>Damnit! Fucking roof!<em>

Dante's fingers scratched the very slippery roof frantically, trying to grab a hold of anything. The search was without success; it was like trying to hold a bar of soap with your hands soaked wet. He was sliding down through the sloping roof, and there was nothing he could do as he fell down.

"Fuuuck!

He could make out the outlines of something dark and oblong a few meters under him, and prepared himself to grab a hold of it.

"Yeah!"

It was an old water pipe that stuck out of the building that saved him. What a coincidence, huh?

He could jump down and survive from here, so he let go of the water pipe.

If Dante had been smart enough to see that an antique table was placed _exactly_ under him when he landed, he might have avoided another bill to his collection.

"I hope that you have the money to pay for the repairs," a creaky voice echoed behind him, "young man."

The distinct sound of a shotgun getting cocked echoed through the place.

"Huh?" he murmured quietly and spied over his shoulder.

He regretted that afterwards.

An old lady dressed in a transparent sleeping dress stood by the door with a shotgun in hand. Her eyes widened in anger as she took in the sight of a totalled table. It was an expression that many of his clients had on their faces as they regarded their destroyed property.

"Well?"

He mumbled something and scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"What did you say, son?"

Dante raised his voice. "I said: I wonder how good your aim is."

The lady nodded her head softly, as if she were struggling to understand what he meant.

"Is that some kind of pick up line?"

* * *

><p>Dante sunk into the red seat and spread out his battered legs in front of him.<p>

"Note to self: _never_ underestimate an old woman again."

Woo-hoo. She had chased him when he had tried to escape - who wouldn't do it? -, even after he promised that he'd pay the bill. Someday. As a reply, she had fired some shots at him. When she realized that he was out of range she threatened to get her husband.

To fuck thing up even more, he had one last meeting with a person with XX-chromosomes.

The female cashier had hesitated to give him his ticket to this shitty romance movie because: one, a tall white-haired dude with a leather coat _always_ attracts suspicion; two, he went alone; three, she had given him a weird look when he asked if they sold booze there. The only thing that stopped her from denying him a ticket was him being impatient. A single serious look and she resigned.

Now, he just had to focus on watching Patty and avoid falling asleep.

* * *

><p>Patty felt her lips turn into a bright smile as the hero of the movie confessed his love for the beautiful heroine. They were, like, the perfect couple and now they'd live together forever.<p>

That's how Patty wanted to live.

A quiet shuffle by her side gained her attention and she discovered that the boy had moved closer. His arm almost touched hers.

She moved a little closer.

He moved even closer.

* * *

><p>Dante moaned when the hero was seducing the heroine.<p>

_Even I could do it better._

Why did women watch this kind of crap, anyway? Nothing funny or dramatic ever happened. Everything was all rainbows and unicorns and hearts and flowers and chocolate and pink clouds and sugar and kittens and love…

Disgusting.

He covered eyes with his hands when the hero tried to use an extremely clichéd line.

_I can't watch this anymore._

Somewhere in the front row, a couple of girls started weeping in harmony. Pretty friggin' loud.

_I'm doing this for Patty._

Okay, the vomit-worthy scene had passed. There seemed to be no causalities in the room, but some men had their pride wounded and probably their manliness' too.

* * *

><p>They were holding hands now, their fingers tightly intertwined. His hand was warm and comforting, a little larger than her own.<p>

Patty glimpsed at the boy, his face coloured dark red by the light of the screen. After a while, he detected her gaze and faced her. He didn't smile, and to lighten his mood up she sent him a blazing, wide smile.

His whole face went tomato red, and this time it wasn't the lights fault.

* * *

><p><em>What the..?<em>

A familiar, dark figure was sitting in the middle of the room. He had seen that humpback before, but he didn't know where. And those bloody red eyes couldn't belong to anyone, could they?

_Wait… Oh shit._

* * *

><p>The demon had been slurping down some delicious snacks when a familiar scent alerted it. It rotated its head to the side, only to face-<p>

"Son of Sparda!" The hoarse croak was barely heard. With panic surging through its system, it shunned away from the smirking half-demon. "What are you doing here?"

* * *

><p>Patty closed her eyes as the boy's face closed in.<p>

His lips touched hers…

* * *

><p>Dante had to annihilate the demon quickly, but he had no weapons. So he had to use the only weapon available: his hands. He jumped on top of the demon, overpowering it.<p>

* * *

><p>They were kissing.<p>

At last.

And it was way better than anything she'd ever felt.

_This must be how true happiness feels like._

* * *

><p>The next day, Patty decided to visit Dante. She found him napping on his favourite chair.<p>

"Dante." She called and repeated his name. "DANTE!"

He woke up with a jerk and faced the little lady.

"I have a question. What were you doing last night at the cinema?"

"… What?" He was a little slow in the morning.

Patty got irritated. "You were there!"

Dante tried to come up with a valid excuse, but the only sound that came out of his mouth was an incoherent mumble.

"With your girlfriend!" Patty exclaimed, trying to fresh his memory up. "You guys were making out!"

"You must've confused me with somebody else."

"No, there's only one person in town that has white hair - and that person is you."

"It wasn't me."

"Yes!"

"No."

Their dispute continued as they went to the ice cream bar, both having forgotten the sad destiny it met the day before.


End file.
